Five Suspected Pirates Charged in Seychelles
THE SEYCHELLES Police have reported that the 5 suspected Somali Pirates arrested by French ship Siroco on high seas on 20 January and then handed over to the local authority nine days later have formally been charged for acts of Piracy.
The accused who were charged before the Seychelles Supreme Court last Thursday, have been remanded to reappear before the same court on the 18th of this month.
The suspects were alleged hijacked a dhow and its crew taken hostage several off the coast of Somalia prior to attempting to attack an oil tanker.
FS Siroco apprehended the five suspected pirates believed to be responsible for an attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier. The oil tanker had issued a distress call to the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) on the evening of Friday, January 17, reporting to be under attack. The attack was repelled by a private armed security team embarked on board the oil tanker. The pirates’ skiff then headed to a dhow which lingered nearby.
The EU Naval Force, in cooperation with other counter piracy forces, reacted quickly to this incident. A Japanese maritime patrol aircraft and a helicopter from the Japanese vessel JS Samidare, in associated support to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF/CTF 151), initially located the dhow. The EU NAVFOR flagship, FS Siroco, was then able to close distance to the dhow, launch their helicopter and boarding team.
Upon nearing the dhow, the helicopter crew and boarding team observed that people on board the dhow were throwing equipment over board, deepening the suspicion that the dhow was indeed the reported pirate mother-ship.
Once the Siroco’s team boarded the dhow, five Somali suspect pirates surrendered and were separated from the dhow’s crew and transferred to FS Siroco for further investigation, with the result of the suspect pirates being handed over to the Seychelles for prosecution.
Sources: Seychelles Police/OCEANUSLive
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